A Maltese cancer specialist, who drowned on Sunday while swimming in Lake Michigan in the USA where she lived, was described by friends and patients as a very intelligent and caring woman who will “truly be missed”.
Victoria Kut, 44, originally from Mellieħa, lived in Lake Forest, a city located in Lake Count, Illinois, with her husband Joseph and teenage son Matthew.
As the news of her death spread across the US and Malta, friends, relatives, patients and colleagues were shocked to hear that the “bright” and “bubbly” oncologist had died so tragically.
One of her childhood friends in Malta, Claudette Pace, could not believe she had died in such circumstances. “We knew her as Vicky Grima,” said Ms Pace, who went to St Dorothy’s school with Dr Kut, whom she remembered as the extremely intelligent girl in class.
“During science lessons when the teacher was explaining something no one understood, she’d be the only one to get it but she’d keep quiet about it. She was a bit shy. But she was no nerd… she too rolled up her skirt under her cardigan to be cool and put plaits in her hair,” she recalled.
Dr Kut was reported missing by her husband early last Sunday, at about 3 a.m., after he found her car unoccupied at Forest Park Beach, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Following an intensive search, a coastguard helicopter spotted her body seven hours later about two miles off the shoreline. She was wearing a swimsuit.
An autopsy carried out on Monday confirmed she had drowned. Her death was the sixth drowning in the Lake County area this season.
One woman wrote on news site Lake Forest Patch: “She was genuinely sincere, caring and very knowledgeable. We have lost an outstanding doctor and woman.”
Another of her patients, Trish Schaefer, commented on the Chicago Tribune’s obituary section: “A brilliant, lovely, deeply caring doctor and woman. So terribly sorry… Thank you for your devotion to me as a patient and person, for your availability, wisdom and skill.”
Dr Kut moved to the US after graduating from the University of Malta. She completed her medical residency at the University of Illinois and oncology fellowship at Northwestern University.
Dr Kut was an oncologist in Lake Forest and Libertyville.
“We are sad that we have lost not only an intelligent and skilful clinician but also a friend and colleague who exemplified caring for those who needed it most – cancer patients. She will not be forgotten,” said one of her colleagues, Michael Ankin, quoted in the Libertyville Review.
A funeral Mass will take place this morning in the church of St Mary in Lake Forest, US.
On July 29, Mass for the repose of her soul will be said at the Mellieħa parish church at 11 a.m.